Back to My Little Corner of the World
by J-A123
Summary: Future Fic, eventually Lit. Rory returns to Stars Hollow after leaving and being gone for almost four years... some things are different, but some things never change. Re-wrote parts of chapter 3.
1. Chapter 1

The bus pulled up and Rory stepped out. She put the strap of her small duffel bag over her shoulder and clutched her purse as she began to walk down the sidewalk. It was the end of January, and the weatherman had predicted record low temperatures for all of New England this week. Rory pulled her coat tighter around herself and continued walking.

The wind blew her hair around her face, and she pulled it back with one hand. As her hand paced by her face, she caught a glimpse of the small ring that was on her hand. She stopped walking, and, after debating for a moment whether she should leave it on or take it off, slid the ring off her finger and put it in her pocket.

Her cell phone rang, and she pulled it out of her purse.

"Damn," she said, as she saw the name on the Caller ID.

"David, I told you I'm taking the week off. No work phone calls, no faxes, no emails. I'll be back next Thursday."

"One thing, Rory… I'll just send you one small fax- I need you to sign for something."

"No. I'm on my vacation."

"Rory! Rory-"

"I'm hanging up now," she said.

"Wait! Come on, Rory! This is urg-" She cut him off as she hung up her phone and put it back in her purse. Rory had been working at the same law firm for three years, and after the resignations of two of their lawyers in the past month, she had been working overtime every day.

She looked up, surprised that she was already standing in front of her old house. It had been almost four years since she had last visited for her grandfather's 60th birthday. She had only come home one night to have dinner with her mother, and had only talked to her on the phone sporadically since then.

The front door was unlocked, as it always was in a town as small as Star's Hollow. She let herself in and dropped her bag on the floor by the couch.

"Hello?" she called out.

"Lorelei? Are you home?"

When nobody answered, she began to walk through the house, stopping in front of the fireplace to look at all the photographs on the mantle. Rory's 1st birthday, Rory going to kindergarten, Rory dressed up to go to her Debutante Ball… but the picture's stopped with the one of her graduation. It was as if time had stopped then for this house, and Rory shivered as she stepped away from the photographs.

She walked into the kitchen, and as she was pouring herself a cup of coffee, she heard footsteps coming closer.

"Rory?" a familiar voice said. Rory turned around.

"Hi, Lorelei," she said, as she saw her mother's shocked face.

"What-what are you doing here?"

"I came to visit you. It's been a long time," Rory said.

"That's it? I don't see you in years, and then you just show up for a 'visit'?"

Rory slipped her hand in her pocket, and fingered the ring. "Yeah."

Lorelei stared at Rory for a moment as if in a trance, and then she suddenly snapped out of it.

"I just came back to pick up some papers for the Inn. Sookie's waiting."

"OK."

"You can hang out here, make yourself at home- Well, it is still your home, you know, so of course you should make yourself at home."

Rory sat down. "I'll do that."

"OK, great. Ummm… do you have something to do?"

"I lived here for 18 years, I can find something to do."

"Well, then, I'll be home around 7."

"Bye."

"Bye, Rory," Lorelei put on her coat, and as she was walking out the door she turned around. "You do know that this is still your home, right? I mean, you can come here whenever you want."

"I know."

A/N: This story will eventually be PG-13 or maybe R, but for now it's only PG. Also, the genre is General/Romance, but that may change as the story goes on.

Review!


	2. Chapter 2

Last time….

"_I told you I'm taking the week off. No work phone calls, no faxes, no emails. I'll be back next Thursday"_

"_That's it? I don't see you in years, and then you just show up for a 'visit'?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_You do know that this is still your home, right? I mean, you can come here whenever you want."_

After Lorelei left, Rory finished her coffee quickly and pulled her coat back on. She stepped out of the house, and quickly walked down the road to the apartment where Lane had moved to after college.

Rory knocked on the door. "Lane?"

The door swung open, and Lane stared at Rory in surprise. "Hi… What are you doing here?"

Rory stepped in and hugged Lane. "That's a nice way to greet your best friend."

"I'm sorry, I'm just kind of, uh, surprised, I guess. Why didn't you tell me you were coming back?" Rory and Lane still talked, about once a week on the phone, just enough to keep Rory up to date with the goings on of Star's Hollow.

"I'm only here until Thursday. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing."

"Have you seen your mom?"

"Yeah, I stopped there first."

The two girls sat down on the couch. "Well, tell me, what did she say?" Lane asked.

"Not much. She didn't really talk to me."

"But did you talk to her?"

"No."

"What did you expect her to say, Rory? You show up after years of having little or no contact with her. She was confused."

"She shouldn't be so confused. I'm her daughter; I'm allowed to come home to visit whenever I want to."

"Well, you've never wanted to before." Lane looked at Rory. "Why now?"

"What?"

"Why now? Why did you come now, why not last year, why not in two months? Why now?"

Rory glanced around the room and absently played with the zipper of her coat. "No reason."

"There's got to be a reason. You don't do anything before thinking it through first, Rory. It's not like you not to have a reason."

"I'm serious, Lane. I was in work at my desk, and I thought to myself, _I wonder how Star's Hollow is doing. I should go visit."_

"You did not, Rory."

"Well, if there is something else behind this visit, I can't tell you yet. I really need to talk to my mother first about it."

"Ok… but you will tell me eventually, right?"

"Of course, Lane."

"Good."

Rory leaned back on the couch. "So, tell me all the new gossip of Star's Hollow."

Later that afternoon Rory walked into the house and went back to her bedroom. The door was closed, and she opened it up to find her room almost exactly the same as it had been when she left. The furniture was in the same place, the curtains were the same, and as she opened her closet she saw all her old clothes hanging up in the same order that they had been all through high school. She walked over to her dresser, where the same photographs were placed just as she had left them. There was of her grandparents, one of her with her mother, and one of her and Lane. Rory touched them gently, remembering when all the pictures were taken, until she saw the fourth photo. Her hand froze in mid-air, and then in one quick movement she pushed the photo face down on her dresser.

"Rory?"

Rory jumped as she heard Lorelei call her name. She walked out of her bedroom. "I'm over here."

Lorelei walked into the kitchen, where Rory was standing after just closing her bedroom door.

"You came home early," Rory commented.

"Yeah, well business was slow and Michel agreed to stay later tonight."

"Oh."

"So what did you do all day?"

"Um, well I went to see Lane."

"How's Lane?"

"She's good."

"That's good."

They looked at each other for a few minutes, both a little hesitant about what to say to the other.

"So are you hungry?" Lorelei asked.

"I'm starving."

Lorelei walked over to the refrigerator. "Well, there's some pizza from last night."

"Leftover pizza?"

"Yeah, sorry. I still haven't learned how to cook," Lorelei said sheepishly. She glanced up at Rory. "We could go to Luke's."

"OK, let's go."

A/N: I'm sorry if this story is a little slow moving, but once Rory is settled (somewhat) in Star's Hollow for her little vacation, it will get much more exciting! Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Summary: Rory returns to Star's Hollow after leaving and being gone for almost four years... some things are different, but some things never change.

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine.

A/N: I changed the conversation between Rory and Matt in this chapter, so you should re-read Chapter 3. Chapter 4 should be up soon, I'm almost done with it. Sorry for the wait!

Last time…

"_What did you expect her to say, Rory? You show up after years of having little or no contact with her. She was confused."_

_She saw the fourth photo… Her hand froze in mid-air, and then in one quick movement she pushed the photo face down on her dresser. _

"_We could go to Luke's."_

Rory and Lorelai stepped into Luke's, the familiar sound of the bell greeting them as they opened the door. The diner was almost empty, with only one older couple whom Rory did not recognize sitting at a table.

They sat down at a table in the corner and waited in silence for a minute before Lorelai stood up.

"I'll go see if Luke's in the back," she said.

"He allows you behind the counter?" Rory asked

"You'll notice that Luke's become a softy about his rules lately. Sometimes, he even offers coffee before I ask him for it."

"Wow."

Lorelai went into the kitchen, and Rory pulled a book out of her purse as she smiled, remembering all the times she had read in Luke's diner in her past.

Rory opened the book and began to read. _Howard Roark laughed…_

Time passed, and Rory, caught up in her book, did not notice someone staring at her. Eventually, she began to feel that someone was looking at her, and glanced up.

Her eyes locked with his eyes and she closed her book.

"Hi," she said faintly.

"Hey."

"I didn't know you were here."

"I could say the same to you." They continued to stare at each other for a moment, until the silence of the diner was broken by Rory's cell phone ringing. Thankful for the interruption, she answered her phone, hoping that her voice sounded normal.

"Hello?"

"Hi, honey. How's the town?"

She stood up and walked out of the diner, trying not to look at him. Only when she was standing on the sidewalk did she talk.

"Hi, Matt," Rory said, trying to catch her breath.

"Is something wrong? You don't sound too good."

"No… nothing's wrong."

"I'm glad. So, did you tell your mom yet?" he asked eagerly.

"My mom? Umm, no. I just got here this afternoon, the timing hasn't really been right," Rory replied. "But I will soon. Tonight."

"Great." He was quiet for a moment, and Rory didn't say anything else.

"I was thinking," he said suddenly. "I'd really like to meet your family and see where you grew up."

"Yeah, that would be nice," Rory said inattentively.

"You could take some more time off from work, and I have weeks of vacation time I can use. I could be down in Stars Hollow on Sunday."

"What? Sunday?" She replied, startled.

"To meet your mom. You'll still be visiting then, and it's about time, don't you think?"

"Well, Matt, you know my mom and I haven't been that close lately."

"Yeah?"

"And it might be kind of a shock for her, you know, for me to visit, tell her, and then meet you so suddenly."

"I have to meet her sometime."

"I know."

"Maybe it'll make the news easier for her to take, if she sees me and knows that I really exist," he said, laughing at the last bit.

"Um, yeah, sure," Rory said, giving in. "I guess that would work… you don't have to, though. It's not really that interesting here. There aren't many things to see." _What was she saying? This was her fiancé, the man she had said yes to,_ Rory thought. _Of course he should meet her mom._

He laughed again. "I'll see you Sunday afternoon."

"OK."

"I love you."

"I, uh, yeah, you too." She hung up quickly before he could say anything else. She walked back into the diner, where her mom was sitting at a table with two plates of food in front of her.

"I hope one of those is mine," Rory said.

"Well...you are my daughter. I suppose I have to share with you," Lorelai said jokingly, yet not jokingly enough for Rory to not be startled_. That's not how she really feels_, Rory thought as she sat down. _Is it?_

The second Lorelai saw the look on Rory's face she wished she could take back what she said.

"Rory, I didn't mean-"

"I know. It's OK."

She took a bite of her hamburger, trying to glance discreetly around the diner without her mother noticing. He wasn't here anymore. She had expected this to relieve her, but for some reason it did not.

Rory suddenly put down her hamburger.

"I have to go now. I'll see you back at the house." With that, she stood up and began to walk out of the diner quickly. Just as she stepped onto the sidewalk she felt a hand on her arm.

"Rory, honey. What's wrong?" Lorelai asked.

Rory tried to shake her off. "Nothing. I just… It's a little hard being back."

Lorelai stared at her, but then she seemed to calm down and she smiled at Rory. "OK. I understand. But I want you to talk to me, Rory. Can I come with you? We can have a movie night, we haven't had one of those in years."

Rory shrugs. "Fine," she says, trying to act indifferent, but seems a little relieved to have someone to talk to.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Spoilers: This chapter contains spoilers for how the season may end. Do not read if you don't want to know!

A/N: Originally, I thought this might also be a Java Junkie, but I found Lorelai and Luke hard to write when I tried, so for now, it's only Literati. I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long; I've been extremely busy with schoolwork. I haven't written anything other than essays in weeks, practically. It feels funny to be writing and not analyzing a book for once, so if this is bad, feel free to let me know.

Also, for the purposes of this story, Jess did come in Last Week Fights, This Week Tights and asked Rory to leave with him. However, it didn't happen like it did in the show; he and Rory talked after she said no and he left on good terms with her.

* * *

Rory slowly became aware of something heavy on her legs. She tried to move them, but they didn't budge. She gradually opened her eyes, squinting as they took in the bright sunlight. She gazed around the room for a second, taking in the TV still on but with the volume turned down, the empty potato chip bags and ice cream bowls on the floor, and the blankets and pillows strewn across the room.

She looked down at her feet.

"Mom," she groaned. "Move."

Lorelai made a grunting noise and waved her hand in the air before rolling over and going back to sleep.

Rory pushed back the blanket and stood up, then slowly made her way back to her old bedroom. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, relieved to not have to dress nicely for work this morning.

She went into the kitchen and began to make coffee. Almost immediately, Lorelai stumbled into the kitchen.

"Coffee?" Lorelai asked.

"How did you know?"

"It's coffee. I just knew." Lorelai poured herself a cup, and sat down at the table. "Come sit," she said to Rory, patting the seat next to her.

"Okay," Rory said, sitting down.

"So, last night."

"What about last night?" Rory asked.

"Well, we talked a lot. You know, typical girl talk, clothes, make-up, the dreamy guy across the street…"

"Mom. I was there. I remember, although anything about a dreamy guy across the street is a mystery to me."

"Right, Okay. But, there is one thing we didn't talk about."

"What?"

Lorelai took a sip of her coffee before speaking. "Why'd you come back?"

"Do I really need a reason? Can't I just come visit?"

Lorelai stood up, setting her coffee down on the table roughly, causing it to splash over the edge of the cup.

"You can always visit me, but you know what, Rory? When you don't visit in four years, you need a reason when you eventually do."

"Fine." Rory dug into her pocket and took something out. She held it up. "I'm getting married. I thought you'd like to know." Rory grabbed her denim jacket from the back of a chair and walked towards the door.

"Rory!" Lorelai called after her, but Rory was already walking down the street.

Rory walked through Stars Hollow, not quite sure where she was headed. She was constantly amazed at how it hadn't changed at all since the last time she had visited.

"Rory?" she heard someone calling.

She turned around, and saw Miss Patty walking out of Doose's Market.

"Hi, Miss Patty," she said.

"Babette said you were back, but I said I wouldn't believe it until I saw you for myself," Miss Patty commented. "So, Rory, what-"

Rory interrupted Miss Patty, knowing that she would ask why Rory was back, and if Rory told her, the whole town would know in under an hour. "How are you doing? Anything new?"

"Well, I've been seeing my second husband again," Miss Patty replied.

"Really? That's great," Rory commented. "I have to get going, Miss Patty, I'll see you later."

"Alright, Rory, see you later."

After walking for a few more minutes, Rory decided to go to Luke's for some coffee. It was late afternoon, right at that lull between lunch and dinner, so the diner was practically empty.

She took a seat at the counter, and looked around. Luke wasn't in the diner, but Rory figured he must be in the back, so she decided to wait a minute.

She heard footsteps coming out from the back, and she looked up. "Luke? Where were you?" she asked.

"What?" Jess said.

"Oh… I thought you were Luke."

"Obviously," he said, walking up behind the counter and picking up a coffee mug. "Want some?"

"Yeah, thanks," Rory answered as he poured her a cup. She took a few sips and then set it down.

"I never realized how much I loved this coffee until I left," she commented. "Coffee in Boston's not that great."

"You've been living in Boston?"

"Yeah. I work for the Globe," she told him.

"Not exactly a Christiane Amanpour yet, are you?"

"Not yet," she said, smiling. "I'm still working up."

"My offer to drive straight at you screaming in a foreign language is still open," he said, and Rory laughed.

They were silent for awhile, and a quote from one of her favorite books came to mind_. In such a meeting, no words are necessary: each senses the other's thoughts._ She smiled, and Jess looked at her strangely.

"What?"

"Nothing," Rory said, looking down at her coffee and taking another sip. "You want to know why I came back?" she asked him.

"You don't seem like you want to tell me," he said.

"I do."

"Okay," he said, taking a bite of a doughnut from the case on the counter.

"I'm engaged," Rory told him. "His name's Matt and he also lives in Boston. He works with his dad; they do something in foreign relations."

"Congratulations," Jess said, finishing the doughnut.

"Oh, uh, thanks," Rory said, a little surprised.

"What, isn't that what people are supposed to say when they hear news like that?" Jess asked, smirking.

"Yeah, I just didn't expect-"

"You didn't expect me to be happy for you?"

"No, well, yes, I guess I did. I didn't know," she said, holding tightly onto her now empty coffee mug.

"I am happy for you," Jess told her.

"Okay. Thanks."

He nodded. "No problem."

"Well, I better be getting back home," Rory said, standing up. "My mom's probably waiting for me. We didn't part on the, uh, best of terms when I left before."

"Bye," he said.

"Yeah, I'll see you later," she said, as she left the diner. The next sentence after the quote she had thought of came to mind just as she left the diner. _In such a meeting, no words are necessary: each senses the other's thoughts. Each is the answer to the other's dreams._ She quickly pushed the thought out of her head, reminding herself to call Matt when she got home and let him know what time to come on Sunday.

A/N: The quote is from Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. What did you think? I know it's moving kind of slow and I still haven't said why Rory left, but that's coming up soon, I promise! It just didn't fit well in this chapter. Review!


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